Beautiful Lights and Holiday Magic
by Chillmaster3000
Summary: A blizzard strands the Senior Staff at the White House on Christmas Eve, but that's the least surprising event of the night. Seventh installment of the Cerulean AU
1. Chapter 1

_'Twas the night before Christmas,_

_And through the White House,_

_Everyone was scurrying,_

_As the snow was piling up._

"Has anyone seen a weather report?" Toby shouts, coming out of his office.

"I've got Rudolph on in my office," Sam says as he passes. "Cerulean loves Yukon Cornelius."

"Fine. Ginger?" Toby turns to the bullpen to see the TVs are all on some fake newscaster. "Ginger!"

"I'm tracking Santa!" she replies. Sam stops outside his own office to look at the screens.

"Really?" Bonnie asks, intrigued. Toby heaves a sigh and Sam chuckles.

"We are in the middle of kickstarting the re-election campaign and a Congressional investigation and the staff is tracking Santa," Toby says. "While the seven-year-old is nowhere in sight."

"Hey, Leo's thing worked itself out and it's Christmas Eve. They're letting off some steam," Sam says. "And Cerulean will run through at some point on her way on the tree in the foyer."

"Why is she going to the tree?" Toby says.

"She likes the lights."

"She's going to the tree…to look at the lights," Toby says. Sam nods.

"Yeah." Toby stares at him.

"I don't know how you did it, but you've adopted a child just like you," he says. Sam smiles and heads into his office. Toby shakes his head. He goes past the throng watching the Santa-tracking to the hall, now on a quest to find sane people who watched the news. He meets Donna in the foyer.

"Hey, Toby."

"Donna, have you seen a weather report lately?" Toby says.

"Well, my TV's broken and Josh has kept his door shut all afternoon, but I could look out a window for you," Donna replies. Toby is speechless for a moment.

"I- I could do that myself. I have done it myself!"

"Sorry, Toby, I got nothing. If Josh ever comes out of his office, I can look for you." Donna darts off to her desk.

"Nobody is concerned about this?" Toby says to himself. "Nobody is at all concerned about this. It's amazing." He makes the run to C.J.'s office. She's talking to Carol by Carol's desk. Toby walks up to C.J. as she heads back to her office.

"Hey, C.J."

"Tobus! My man, how are you this fine evening?" C.J. says.

"Trying to find- um, what is that?" Toby looks up and C.J. follows his gaze.

"It's mistletoe, Toby. If you see a pretty girl under the mistletoe, you're supposed to kiss her," she says, looking back at him. Toby nods.

"I see." C.J. watches him for a moment. "What?"

"Well?" she says.

"Oh, you meant you," Toby says. C.J. rolls her eyes.

"Of course I meant me! I'm a very pretty woman!" Toby kisses her on the cheek.

"You're beautiful, C.J., don't sell yourself short," he says.

"I knew I liked you for a reason," C.J. says. "What are you looking for?"

"Weather report."

"Channel Five confirmed that we are in the midst of a blizzard, my friend, with power outages across the tri-state area," C.J. says. Toby throws his hands in the air.

"See! I knew there was cause for concern!" he says. "I've been trying to get a weather report. Do you know what my staff's doing right now?"

"Ginger's tracking Santa," C.J. answers.

"Cerulean's not even watching," Toby says.

"What is she doing?"

"Coloring and watching Rudolph." The lights flicker above them. Toby and C.J. share a glance just before the power cuts out.

"That would be the power outage," C.J. says. Toby growls.

"Wonderful."

Cerulean shrieks when the lights go out. Sam tries to go over to her but he walks into his desk and that slows him down. Thankfully Kathy comes in with a flashlight.

"Everybody okay?" she asks.

"What happened to the lights?" Cerulean says, voice small. Sam gets around the desk and gets down on the floor beside her.

"The storm knocked out the power," he says, pulling her into his lap. "Everything's fine."

"You sure? There was a thumping-"

"Yeah, that was Daddy walking into his desk coz he couldn't see."

"You walked into your desk?" Kathy says.

"Yeah. Find out when we're getting the power back please?" Sam says.

"The phones are dead, but I'll do my best. There's a flashlight in your desk, second drawer." Kathy's flashlight goes back to the bullpen. Sam ruffles Cerulean's hair.

"You all right, Cerulean?" He can feel her head nod against his chest.

"Jeremy used to turn off the lights to scare us," she says. "He'd grab us in the dark." Sam winces.

"Did it scare you when I-"

"No, I heard you coming," Cerulean says. "Can we get the flashlight?"

"Yeah. Stay here." Sam slides Cerulean off his lap and clambers over to his desk. For whatever reason he stays on his knees instead of standing up as he digs through the second drawer.

"Sam!" Josh's voice carries into the office. Sam, finally finding the flashlight, lifts his head and bangs it on the desk lip.

"Ow! Yeah?" He pulls himself up to his feet. A flashlight flies over Sam's face before settling on his chest.

"You okay?" Josh asks from the general area of the doorway. Sam waves a hand as he turns on his own flashlight.

"Hit my head. I'm fine."

"Kathy said you walked into your desk. Maybe you should stop moving for a little while," Josh says. "Where's Cerulean?"

"Down here!" Josh's flashlight drops to Cerulean's waving hand.

"Okay, we need to put glowsticks or something on her, or we're gonna lose her," he says, looking back at Sam.

"I'll give her a flashlight. If you could just light my way, so I don't-"

"Don't kill yourself walking into your desk again? Yeah, got it."

Toby and C.J. head back to Toby's office and find Josh trying to help Sam navigate his dark office, both of them waving flashlights around. Toby and C.J. have their own flashlights and have to resist the urge to point them at their idiot coworkers.

"-And don't go to your left!"

"I'm on the right side of the room, Josh, I have to go left!"

"I'm on the chair, it's okay!" Cerulean's voice comes out of the dark.

"Sam, if you step on my niece, I'll kick your ass!" C.J. calls.

"We are trying to avoid that, C.J., give us a minute," Josh says, turning to them. "You guys hear anything about the power coming back yet?"

"Nope."

"I was saying this might happen," Toby says.

"You did not!" C.J. says.

"I was going to after I got the weather report!"

"That's not the same thing."

"Does anyone know how the roads are?" Sam asks. He finally makes it to where Cerulean's voice came from a few minutes ago. His flashlight lands on the girl before he picks her up.

"Donna says they're pretty bad," Josh says. "I don't think we're gonna be able to drive for a while."

"Sam!" Kathy appears at Toby's side. "Power's going to be back in fifteen minutes. The backup generators are malfunctioning, they're working on it."

"Great. Have you heard anything about the roads?"

"They're closed. People are coming back into the building because they can't get out," Kathy says. Sam sighs.

"How do you close a road?" Cerulean asks.

"It gets covered in snow and ice so that it's unsafe to drive on," C.J. says. "They'll plow it and then we can go home."

"When will they be plowing it?"

"As soon as the winds die down. Which might be a while," Kathy answers.

"Okay." Cerulean says. A fifth flashlight comes up beside Kathy's.

"Hey, guys. The President wants the Staff in the Oval," Charlie says. "I'll watch Cerulean while you guys are in there."

"This can't wait until the power comes back?" Toby says. The flashlight moves with Charlie's shrug.

"Apparently not."

The Oval Office is lit by candles. Jed and Leo are sitting in the chairs at the ends of the couches, talking in hushed voices until they hear the door open. Then they look up and turn to the flashlight-wielding staff.

"Good evening, everyone. Hell of a day, isn't it?" Jed says.

"You can say that again," Josh says, turning his flashlight off. The staff sits on the couches and the rest of the flashlights turn off.

"How are you feeling?" C.J. says to Leo. The Chief of Staff shrugs.

"I'm a little cold," he says.

"Leo-"

"It went fine, C.J., I'm fine," Leo interrupts. "We don't have to worry about it again until after the break."

"What we do have to worry about is the roads," Jed says. "They're all closed and probably won't be open again for some time, maybe not until morning. The Secret Service is working on getting people home or a bed for the night, whatever's easier. You are all invited to stay in the Residence tonight, which might be less stressful for you."

"Yeah, tell em the other part before they accept," Leo says, a smile growing on his face.

"Other part?" Toby repeats.

"Well, I was thinking that we could have a little celebration in the morning. I know you and Josh don't celebrate Christmas, but a little holiday cheer never goes amiss," Jed says. Toby's eyebrows lift in incredulity. Jed resists the urge to laugh.

"That's fine by me, sir, but what about Cerulean?" Josh says.

"She's invited too, of course," Jed says.

"No, I mean that all her presents are at Sam's and tomorrow's Christmas. Don't you guys open presents on Christmas morning?" Josh asks.

"That's usually how it works," Leo says.

"I don't think _all _of Cerulean's presents are at Sam's house," Jed says.

"Yours aren't, sir, but the rest of them are," Sam says. "I'm sure she'll understand having to wait. She's pretty good about that kind of thing."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Sam. Christmas has a certain magic about it for unpredicted circumstances," Jed says.

"Christmas magic?" C.J. repeats, visibly holding back laughter.

"I hope you're not talking about Santa, sir, because I'm fairly sure he doesn't exist," Toby says.

"Yeah, coz I got all the way through college and the London School of Economics believing in Santa Claus," Jed says. "I'm not talking about Santa Claus, I'm talking about the magic of the holiday."

"Magic doesn't exist either," Josh says.

"You people can't let me have anything!" Jed says, throwing his hands in the air.

"I think the President was referring to metaphoric magic, not actual magic," Leo says, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, let's use this time to plan for after the break. What's on deck?"


	2. Chapter 2

Cerulean sits in the foyer, waiting. She saw a bunch of people with flashlights go by a few minutes ago, but that's not what she's waiting for. The tree lights are dark, just like all the other lights in the White House, but soon they'll all come on at once and that's gonna be _amazing._ So she sits in one of the chairs, Mr. Charlie next to her.

Cerulean likes Christmas trees. They're very, very pretty. In her old house, Cerulean used to decorate a tree with Zach and Jason. The lights were already on the tree, sparkling and bright, but they put on the ornaments. Cerulean liked to put on the angel ornaments. Zach said that they were Mommy's ornaments. A lot of the angels had yellow hair, like Aunt Donna and Auntie Ainsley, but some had hair like Aunt C.J. or hair like Aunt Bonnie and Aunt Kathy, or hair like Dr. Bartlet. Her favorite was the brown-haired one in the blue dress with a harp in her hands. But all those ornaments were back at the old house, and Daddy said Cerulean wasn't ever going back there again. Cerulean had tried imagining Jeremy putting the ornaments on the tree, but she couldn't. Jeremy didn't like Christmas much.

"Hello?" Dr. Bartlet's voice comes out of the dark as a flickering light appears in the foyer. "Is someone in here?"

"Over here!" Charlie replies, turning his flashlight away from his book. The flickering light comes closer and Cerulean sees Dr. Bartlet is holding a candle. The Secret Service agents behind her are holding flashlights.

"Now what are you doing all the way out here, Charlie?" Dr. Bartlet asks.

"Cerulean and I are waiting for the tree to light up." Charlie points the flashlight at Cerulean for a second, keeping the light out of her face. She waves.

"Hi, Dr. Bartlet."

"Ah, I see. The tree is quite spectacular, especially when it first lights," Dr. Bartlet says. "May I join you?"

"Sure." Charlie's flashlight goes back to his book. Cerulean feels Dr. Bartlet sit in the chair on the other side of her.

"So, Cerulean, how's your Christmas Eve been?" Dr. Bartlet says. The candle settles on the arm of the chair, between Cerulean and Dr. Bartlet.

"Pretty good. The lights went out and that was kinda scary, but I'm all right now," Cerulean says. "Daddy kept hurting himself though."

"He's not the most graceful of men, your Daddy," Dr. Bartlet says. "You're not scared anymore, right?"

"Nope. I'm 'cited," Cerulean says.

"Excited? How excited?"

"Very, very excited!"

"That's a lot of excitement. Are you excited for anything in particular?" Dr. Bartlet says.

"Yeah, the tree's gonna light up soon! There's gonna be all sorts of colors and they're gonna dance around the tree like they're chasin each other! It's the best part!"

"The best part of the tree?"

"No, the best part of Christmas!" Cerulean says. "The best part of Christmas is the lights. They're super pretty."

"Your favorite part of Christmas is the lights. Not the presents or Santa," Dr. Bartlet says, frowning in confusion.

"Well, no, Santa's not real. He's just on TV," Cerulean says. "And the presents are nice, I guess. Me, Jason, and Zach used to get each other presents, but Jason's not around anymore, so I just got presents for Zach, Nana, and Daddy. And everybody here, of course."

"Of course." Dr. Bartlet's hand finds Cerulean's hair and starts playing with the bow Nana put in it this morning. "Well, I'm glad you like the tree. I like it too. Maybe next year you'll help me decorate my tree."

"That'd be fun," Cerulean says.

"It would," Dr. Bartlet agrees. "Do you want to see something neat?"

"Sure. What?" Dr. Bartlet's hand leaves Cerulean's bow. Suddenly her fingers are going through the candle fire, going superfast. "Whoa! Doesn't that hurt?"

"No. Because I move my hand very fast, the skin doesn't burn," Dr. Bartlet says. "Do you want to try?" Cerulean looks at the fire and then at her hand. She closes her hand and puts it in her lap.

"I don't think Daddy would want me to," Cerulean says.

"Daddys are like that," Dr. Bartlet says. There is a clicking sound and a whirring that makes them all look around. Then all the lights come on, the tree covered in the dancing colors. Cerulean gasps.

"It was just like magic, Dr. Bartlet, did you see that?"

When Sam leaves the Oval Office, Charlie is at his desk. Cerulean is not with him. Sam stays behind as the others head back to their offices.

"Charlie, where's Cerulean?" he asks.

"With the First Lady. She said she'd have Cerulean back to your office," Charlie says.

"When?" Sam asks. Charlie pauses.

"You know, she didn't say."

"Did she say where she was going with Cerulean?" Sam says.

"Nope. Didn't mention that either," Charlie answers. Sam sighs.

"My daughter's been kidnapped by the First Lady. Great."

"But you know they can't have left the building," Charlie says.

"Doesn't help me much. Maybe I'll get lucky and they're already at my office."

"Maybe." Sam walks back to the Communications bullpen. The First Lady and the Secret Service are conspicuously absent.

"Kathy!"

"The power's back, but the wind's still acting up!" she reports from her desk.

"Have you seen Cerulean?" Sam asks. She looks up.

"She's not with you?"

"No. She's with the First Lady."

"I haven't seen either of them," Kathy says. Sam nods.

"Okay. I'm just gonna wait for them then."

"Sam!" Ainsley enters the bullpen. Her head and shoulders are dusted with snow, her hair askew and flecked with frozen flakes. She walks over as she rubs her hands together, pink-cheeked and breathless.

"Ainsley! I thought you left," Sam says.

"I tried," she says.

"You look cold."

"I am!" She glares at him. "I couldn't leave the parking lot because of the snow. They sent me back inside."

"Ah. I heard they were doing that," Sam replies. "You want some coffee? We had just made a fresh pot before the power went out."

"The power went out?" Ainsley repeats.

"Yeah, for about fifteen minutes."

"The White House, where the President lives and runs the country, lost power?"

"Yeah?" Sam says, now slightly confused.

"Don't they have back-up generators?"

"They were malfunctioning. Obviously something got fixed since the power's back now."

"Sam, it doesn't bother you that the building that houses the Situation Room had no power for fifteen minutes? Or that the Secret Service were suddenly protecting the President in the dark for fifteen minutes?" Ainsley says.

"I hadn't thought about it that way. I was thinking about Cerulean," Sam says. "But now that you've pointed that out, I am sufficiently horrified."

"That's what I was going for," Ainsley says. "I'll take you up on the coffee." She blows on her fingertips. Sam walks over to the coffee pot, Ainsley following. She peers through his office window as he pours her some coffee.

"Is Cerulean in your office?" she asks.

"No."

"Where is she?" Ainsley accepts the cup and sighs. "So _warm_."

"It's still cold out there, huh?" Sam says.

"Freezing. Where's your daughter?" she says again. Sam shrugs.

"I don't know."

"What?" Ainsley's voice is mildly shrill and far too loud. Sam winces.

"Well, she can't have left the building. She probably heard that," he says.

"You lost your daughter?" Ainsley demands.

"You say that like I don't have a general idea where she is!" Sam replies.

"The building's pretty big, Sam, knowing she's in the building isn't responsible at all!"

"Hey, I left her with Charlie. He's the one that lost her!" Sam says. "She disappeared with the First Lady."

"You seem really calm about that," Ainsley says.

"What's going to happen to her when she's with the First Lady? It's probably the safest place she could be," Sam says. "You wanna go look for her?"

"I think we _should_."

"We?" Sam repeats.

"She's your daughter," Ainsley says, voice pointed.

"I think she's perfectly fine with the First Lady. I'm going to go back to-"

"Sam." Her tone leaves no room for argument. Sam sighs.

"Okay. Drink your coffee and we'll go."

"I think he's up to something," C.J. finishes. Josh nods as he sits in one of the guest chairs in her office. He keeps nodding. "Josh?"

"Yeah?" he says.

"You're still nodding." He stops.

"Well, I clearly agree with the fantastic point you just made, and had to show it through exuberant gesture," Josh says, turning to face her.

"Exuberant isn't exactly the word I'd use," C.J. says. "What was the fantastic point I just made?"

"Um… probably something incredibly eloquent about Leo," Josh says. "Sorry, I wasn't listening."

"I could tell. You're just in here because my office is warmer than your office, aren't you?" C.J. says.

"Because my office is an_ icebox_," Josh says. "What were you saying?"

"I think the President is up to something," C.J. says, leaning forward. Josh frowns.

"Yeah?"

"That whole spiel about Christmas magic seemed pretty suspect to me," C.J. says. Josh rolls his eyes.

"Come on, C.J. He's probably just going to pile his presents to Cerulean under the tree and say it was Santa," he says. "He can't control the weather, as much as he'd like to."

"Laugh now, ye of little faith. Tomorrow morning will see what 'Christmas magic' brings." There is a knock at the door. "Come in!" The door opens. Sam and Ainsley stand in the doorway. Ainsley, rosy-cheeked and slightly spattered with melted snow, clutches a cup of coffee.

"Wow, you look cold," Josh says.

"I just came back in."

"You got trapped in the parking lot, huh?" C.J. says. Ainsley nods.

"I'm regaining feeling in my extremities now. Have you guys seen Cerulean?"

"Not since the power went out. I thought Charlie was watching her," C.J. says.

"She went off with the First Lady and Ainsley thinks we should look for them," Sam says.

"It's your responsibility to know where she is-"

"We're back to the paternal responsibility thing? Again?" Sam says, turning to look at Ainsley.

"Well, you used it as an excuse for not letting Cerulean dye her hair, so yes, we're back to the paternal responsibility thing," she says with a wicked smile.

"Cerulean wanted to dye her hair? Aren't they supposed to be teenagers when they want to do crazy stuff like that?" Josh asks.

"It was Ainsley's idea. And we're not having that argument again, so let's keep looking for Cerulean, shall we?" Sam says. Ainsley nods.

"Fine. I think we should check the mess next."

"You're out of coffee?" Sam asks.

"Yeah and I'd rather have hot chocolate next. Perhaps with a cookie." They turn to leave, but C.J. sees green and has a thought.

"Wait!" she calls. Sam and Ainsley stop, turning back.

"What?" Sam says. C.J. points over their heads.

"Mistletoe." They look up to see the festive sprig. Their eyes widen as they glance at each other and Josh snickers. C.J.'s smile is enormous.

"We, uh, we have to go find Cerulean, we can't-"

"It's tradition, Ainsley," C.J. interrupts. "Mistletoe on Christmas Eve."

"It's a ridiculous tradition," Sam says, finding his voice again.

"You're chicken," Josh says. "The pair of you, a couple of chickens!"

"Josh, are you twelve?" Ainsley replies, rolling her eyes. C.J., feeling a lot of Christmas spirit suddenly, uses a tried-and-true tactic.

"Bawk- bawk- bawk…"

"Is she-she is clucking at us!" Ainsley says, face reddening.

"It's not going to work, C.J.," Sam says.

"Bawk- bawk- bawk…"

"I don't see what the big deal is, guys. I kissed Carol, and I don't even celebrate Christmas," Josh says. Ainsley sighs and looks up at Sam.

"Let's just get it over with," she says.

"Fine." Sam leans down slightly, but needn't have bothered- Ainsley grabs his chin and plants one on him. Sam tenses in surprise, but relaxes. Things get a little more heated than C.J. cares to see.

"Okay, guys, keep it PG-13," Josh says, looking uncomfortable. They don't seem to hear him. C.J. reaches into a drawer and takes out her camera. "Guys?" C.J.'s camera clicks loudly and that gets Sam and Ainsley to pull apart.

"C.J.!"

"I told you to kiss, not count each other's teeth," C.J. says. "You can do that somewhere else, not in my office."


	3. Chapter 3

Toby walks out of his office to get coffee. He passes Bonnie and the mail guy, Clarke. Why Clarke is still here is beyond Toby's understanding.

"Why are you still here?" Bonnie says, echoing Toby's thoughts. Clarke sighs.

"I was on my way out when this Crazy Lady comes in with an 'urgent' package," he says. "I kept telling her I was off the clock and it would have to wait until after the holiday, but she insisted I deliver it. By the time I got her out of my office, there was no leaving the building because the roads are closed. So I am delivering Crazy Lady's package to Mr. Sam and Miss Cerulean Seaborn now, because I have nothing better to do." Toby chokes on his coffee. Bonnie and Clarke turn to look at him.

"You okay?" Bonnie asks. Toby swallows, eyes streaming. He comes over as he blinks the moisture out of his eyes.

"Who sent the package?"

"What?" Clarke says.

"Who sent the package?"

"She didn't mention who and I didn't ask," Clarke says, bewildered. "She was nuts, man, I was trying to get her out of the office!"

"There's no return address?" Toby says. Clarke looks down at the rather large box, the only package on the cart among a dozen letters, and shakes his head. "You have no idea who the package is from, but you were going to deliver it anyway?"

"Hey, man, Secret Service screens everything that comes in the building. It's not my job to do that," Clarke says. Toby represses a sigh.

"What did she look like?"

"Excuse me?"

"What did the Courier look like?" Toby repeats with growing frustration.

"Uh, white. Kinda short. Big eyes, blue, I think, maybe gray. Wavy brownish hair…"

"Toby, why are you making a big deal of this?" Bonnie says.

"Because the last anonymous gift Cerulean got was from her supposedly dead mother." Toby puts his coffee down and holds out his arms. "Give me the package."

"You want the package?" Clarke says.

"Yes. I'm going to call the FBI and talk to someone from the Secret Service. Give me the package," Toby says. "Why do I have to keep repeating myself with you?" Clarke rolls his eyes.

"Fine. Whatever." He hefts the box off the cart and gives it to Toby, who staggers slightly with the weight.

"Okay. Thank you." Toby gives a small grunt and starts heading towards his office. Bonnie follows, grabbing his coffee on the way.

"You don't think there's anything dangerous in there, do you, Toby?" she asks.

"No, not really." Toby sets the box on his desk. "But I would like to be sure. Anyone who can impersonate their way into the White House is unpredictable and brilliant, to say the least." Bonnie puts his coffee on the other side of the desk. "Thank you."

"No problem. You want a box cutter?"

"Yeah. And get me someone from the Secret Service!" Toby goes to his chair as Bonnie sets off in search of a box cutter. He picks up the phone, knowing somebody must be trapped in the Hoover building the same way he's trapped in the White House. As he dials, he can't help but wonder why Anna Barber would go through so much trouble to send things to Cerulean and not come see the girl herself.

Sam and Ainsley head down to the mess. Neither has said a word about the events in C.J.'s office. Sam is a little numb; it was the first kiss he had since the last time Mallory decided she liked him, which was a fair amount of time. Ainsley kisses like a dream, by the way, a beautiful stunning dream from which he should probably wake up. It was just a mistletoe kiss. It doesn't mean anything.

"-And then Elizabeth would not sit still for the rest day of the day. She was all aflutter because of that dog!" The First Lady's voice comes from inside the mess. Ainsley smiles at Sam before they walk in.

"See? The mess was a good idea," she says.

"Yeah," Sam says. Ainsley's smile fades. She stops walking and Sam stops with her.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"You're looking at me funny. You're not thinking about…earlier, are you?" Ainsley asks.

"No!" Sam says. Ainsley raises an eyebrow. "Okay, a little. C.J.'s the queen of blackmail."

"Oh, so you're thinking about being blackmailed because you kissed me," Ainsley says. There is a dangerous edge to her voice and Sam has the feeling he screwed up somewhere.

"She took the picture for a reason-"

"She took the picture because we had left kissing behind and moved onto the things she did not want to see," Ainsley replies, tone still acidic.

"Well, if _she_ had been kissing you, she would have left kissing behind very quickly too," Sam says. Ainsley pauses.

"Really?"

"Really," Sam says. Ainsley gives a small smile.

"Okay." She walks into the mess. Sam isn't entirely sure what just transpired, but he's not in trouble and that's a good thing. Probably. Sam follows Ainsley into the mess.

Cerulean is sitting on Dr. Bartlet's lap. Her eyelids droop as the First Lady finishes the story about Elizabeth and the dog, her head listing against Dr. Bartlet's chest. Sam knows he may be biased, but he's fairly certain this may be one of the most adorable sights to ever exist.

The First Lady looks up as Sam and Ainsley walk over.

"Oh, Sam. I was just going to suggest we head up to your office," she says. "I think someone's ready for bed."

"Am not," Cerulean protests, lifting her head. "I was just restin'. I can stay awake."

"Good. That means we have time to read," Sam says. "We could go back to my office or maybe Dr. Bartlet knows a better place to read." He glances at Dr. Bartlet, who nods.

"I do, Sam. Let's go check it out, shall we?" Cerulean nods and slides off Dr. Bartlet's lap. The First Lady mouths 'good one' to Sam as Cerulean walks over to him and Ainsley.

"Are you coming, Auntie Ainsley?" Cerulean asks, looking up at Ainsley.

"I don't think so, sweetheart. I should go to my office and get some work done, if I'm stuck here," Ainsley says. "Good night."

"Okay. Good night." Cerulean reaches up to Ainsley, who bends hug her. Something weird and fluttery happens in Sam's chest. He decides to ignore it.

Cerulean lets go of Ainsley and goes to Sam. The First Lady smiles at Ainsley as they pass each other, Ainsley on her way to hot chocolate and Dr. Bartlet on her way to the Seaborns.

"Okay, Cerulean, are you ready for the next part of our Christmas adventuring?" Dr. Bartlet says. Cerulean nods, little face very serious.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Let's get going."

Toby stands in his office, where the Secret Service have returned the mystery box. Agent Wilson, one of Ron Butterfield's best agents, reads over the report his team complied regarding the inspection of the box.

"Mr. Ziegler, there is nothing dangerous about the package or its contents," Wilson says when he finishes the report. "Upon opening the package, we found two wrapped boxes with envelopes attached each. Both boxes were x-rayed and wanded. Their contents are completely harmless. There is no powder or residue in or on the envelopes. Everything is safe."

"Someone got into the White House pretending to be a courier and the package they were carrying nearly got to the intended recipient. I fail to see how that is safe or harmless," Toby replies.

"We're working on the mystery courier. But the package got through because there was nothing dangerous about it," Wilson says. "We'll find out how she got past us. We've got a picture and we're putting it in the system. For now, there's no reason to be worried about the presents. It's fine."

"It is not fine!" Toby says. "The courier was Anna Barber! She's broken into two secure buildings to deliver gifts to a child she has not seen in six years! Who does that?"

"First of all, we don't know that it was Anna Barber for sure," Wilson says. "Secondly, you talked to a behavior analyst at the FBI about Anna Barber."

"Yeah."

"And you heard her assessment about Anna Barber, which that the woman is acting on guilt and we should be grateful this is the extent of her interference with Cerulean Seaborn?" Wilson says. Toby nods. "Isn't that enough for you?"

"Not really," Toby answers. Wilson sighs.

"Mr. Ziegler-"

"It doesn't sit right. Something's not…it doesn't fit, I can feel it," Toby says. Wilson gives him an exasperated look.

"Your feelings do not direct the Secret Service. The behavior analyst's assessment is good enough for us."

"I got that impression," Toby says.

"You can give these to the Seaborns. It's all fine," Wilson says again.

"Toby?" C.J. and Josh stand in the doorway, watching Wilson with wide eyes. Wilson nods at Toby.

"I'll see you around. Happy holidays." He walks out past the two Senior Staffers. They turn to Toby.

"What the hell's the Secret Service doing in your office on Christmas Eve?" C.J. asks.

"Anna Barber brought this in." Toby gestures to the big box on his desk. "Was supposed to be delivered to Sam. I intervened."

"What's in it?" Josh says.

"Gifts, apparently. According to the envelopes, they are for Sam and Cerulean," Toby says.

"How'd it get in the building?"

"She posed as a courier from the OEOB."

"And nobody noticed she wasn't actually a courier?" C.J. says.

"Apparently, her forgeries are very good," Toby says. "The Secret Service assured me that the package's contents are harmless. I don't think there's any physical harm to be had-"

"But Anna Barber meddling in Cerulean's life has a lot of emotional ramifications for Cerulean and the rest of us," C.J. finishes. Toby gestures emphatically.

"Thank you! That's the point I was trying to make with Wilson!"

"Technically the Secret Service doesn't care about our emotional well-being. It's not in their job description," Josh says. "But this is really bad for us."

"Sam's going to have a cow when he finds out," C.J. says. "He wasn't happy when they realized she got into the hospital. But now she's gotten into the West Wing while Cerulean was here!"

"This is the second time she's been within walking distance of Cerulean in the last year with nobody knowing about it," Josh says. "God knows what she's been doing these past five, six years. God knows if she's even still sane after being married to that maniac-"

"Josh, C.J., I know all that. Everyone knows that, from Kathy and Ginger up to the President and Leo. The point is…" Toby pauses, the adrenaline coming to a head in his mind. "What are we going to do with this? What are we going to do when Anna Barber gets it into her head that gifts aren't enough?" C.J. and Josh look at each other and then back at Toby. Nobody has anything to say.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam pulls the blanket over Cerulean. She curls in a tight ball in her sleep, as she has since she legally became his daughter, but her breathing is so much softer, so relaxed compared to those awful early months. Sam knows she's doing much better than she was, but he waits a few minutes before leaving the room anyway. Cerulean stays peacefully asleep. When he's sure she won't wake up, Sam starts for the door.

"Sam?" Zoey enters quietly, her voice hushed. "Mom asked me to give you these." She holds out two devices out to him. They look like walkie-talkies, one with a speaker and one without. Sam stares at the things, unsure of what they are. Zoey rolls her eyes. "Haven't you ever seen a baby monitor before?"

"No," Sam replies. Zoey pushes past him and puts one of the devices on the nightstand beside Cerulean. She flips a switch and it lights up without a sound. Zoey walks out with the other, Sam behind her. When he shuts the door, she flips the switch on the second device and Sam can hear Cerulean's even breaths.

"It lets you listen to her. In case she has a nightmare," Zoey says. "We keep them around for Liz and her kids."

"Oh. Thank you," Sam says. She hands him the second device, which has a clip on the back like his pager and his phone case. His immediate thought is to clip it onto his belt beside those two.

"Is she doing okay? With all the Christmas stuff?" Zoey asks.

"Yeah. She decorated the tree with Mom a couple days ago. I got in on a little of that. She loved getting presents for people," Sam says.

"Yeah, but with Jason and everything," Zoey says. "Christmas can be hard for stuff like that."

"Mm. She…she does bring him up sometimes," Sam says. "Cerulean insisted on making him this little paper star ornament. The Dosils and Zach are taking it…to him. I really didn't want her going."

"Really?"

"She doesn't talk about him like he's dead," Sam answers. Zoey's eyes widen. "I mean, we've talked about it once or twice and I know she knows he's dead, but Cerulean still refers to Jason in the present tense and she made him a gift for his birthday and for Christmas. I don't know what seeing the actual grave would do."

"Yeah, I don't know either," Zoey says. "Does she ever ask to see him?"

"She hasn't asked me," Sam says. "I don't think she'd ask anyone else-"

"Sam!" Josh's voice rings through the hall like a bomb blast. Zoey and Sam both turn to him.

"Shh! She just went to sleep!" Zoey half-whispers, irritation keeping her voice louder. Josh flinches.

"Sorry!" His hush is still not that quiet. The baby monitor on Sam's belt lets out a soft huff and they all freeze. Nothing else comes from the speaker. Sam glares at Josh.

"If you had woken her up, I would have hit you with this thing."

"What is that thing?" Josh whispers.

"A baby monitor. Don't you watch TV? They're on TV, I know they are," Zoey says.

"I work 18 hours a day. I don't have time for TV," Josh says. "And I'm sorry, but Sam, you gotta come to Toby's office. Now."

"Why, what's going on?" Sam asks.

"Anna Barber," Josh says. Sam's jaw drops. Zoey and Josh watch him for a minute while he does nothing to merit being watched other than be stunned into silence.

"Sam? You okay?" Zoey says.

"I…I will be. Let's go to Toby's office," Sam says. Josh nods and they head down towards the West Wing.

Leo walks into the President's study to find Jed and Abbey in the middle of what sounds like a conspiratorial conversation.

"And I've had the porters gather those up. We'll put them in the parlor by the guest rooms we're putting the Senior Staff in," Abbey says from her seat in the redder armchair. Jed, across from her in the brown chair, nods.

"I've talked to the guys in the garage. They think the roads will be completely clear by five, which is just about the time we want according to Hannah," he says.

"Mr. President?" Leo says. Jed and Abbey turn to him.

"Leo! We were just planning some Christmas magic for the morning," Jed says with a broad smile.

"I thought so, sir. Do you have a minute?" Leo asks.

"Yeah, we're not going anywhere," Jed says. "Sit down." He waves Leo over. Leo comes over to the chair beside the President and sits. "What's going on?"

"Anna Barber got into the building," Leo says.

"Anna Barber as in Cerulean's mother?" Abbey repeats. Leo nods. "Did she-"

"She only got as far as the mail guy's office. She delivered a package while pretending to be a courier and left."

"Package for whom?" Jed asks.

"Sam and Cerulean. Toby managed to intercept it and alert the Secret Service, who examined the package and found it was harmless," Leo says. "They are pretty pissed she got past them, though."

"_They're_ pissed?" Jed exclaims. "I'm furious! What if she had tried to get to Cerulean? Are you telling me that this woman could have made off with Cerulean and the Secret Service would have been none the wiser?"

"I think she would have been stopped if she had tried that, sir," Leo says.

"Yeah, by a staffer, not by the Secret Service. I'm calling Ron Butterfield-"

"He's already briefing his people on this. Anna Barber tries to get in the building again, they'll take her into custody," Leo says. "It turns out getting into the White House under false pretenses is illegal."

"Damn right it is. And when that woman is arrested, I want to find out where the hell she's been all these years! There is no excuse for abandoning your children to a monster like Thomas Barber," Jed declares.

C.J. and Josh sit on Toby's couch, watching Toby explain to Sam what had happened with the package. C.J. thinks Sam is taking this fairly well; he hasn't started yelling yet. He hasn't said much of anything. When Toby finishes, Sam looks down at the box on the desk.

"So why is there a package for me?" he asks. Toby shrugs.

"I don't know. Want to find out?"

"You think I should?" Sam says.

"Well, Toby's made sure it's not a bomb, so you'll probably be okay," Josh says.

"It'll still hurt if we throw it at you, I imagine," Toby replies. "But the letter should be first."

"There's a letter, too?" Sam says.

"Yeah. It's not overly thick, so it's not long," Toby says.

"What about the package?"

"That's heavy. All I know is that it's not dangerous, according to the Secret Service," Toby says.

"Tell you what, Sam, I'll open the box while you open the letter. Bite the bullet," C.J. says.

"Why would we do it that way?" Josh asks.

"Because the anxiety is starting to get to me. Can we please just open them and find out what Anna Barber so desperately wants you to know?" C.J. says. Sam nods.

"You open the box. I'll open the letter." C.J. gets up and walks to the box on Toby's desk. She reaches into the box and takes the envelope off the larger package, which is wrapped in dark blue and twice the size of the smaller, light blue-papered box. She hands the envelope to Sam.

"Ready?" C.J. says. Sam nods. She tears the paper as he pulls on the envelope. He's got the letter out before she has the paper off the box. Sam waits for her to lift the lid of the box before unfolding the letter.

"What's in it?" Josh asks, standing to peer into the box. C.J., after making sure she was seeing what she thought she was seeing, looked up at him.

"Photo albums," she says. "There's two photo albums in here, maybe three."

"Albums?" Toby repeats. C.J. lifts the top of the first one to find photographs of a very tiny baby. Cerulean Emily Barber is written in the middle of the page, the handwriting neat and flowing.

"Yeah. And I'm gonna go out on a limb and say they all feature Cerulean before you adopted her, Sam."

"Mmm." Sam's uninterested reply gets the attention of the other three away from the package. Sam, reading the letter, has apparently forgotten they were there.

"Sam?" Josh says. That fails to get an answer as well. "Sam!"

"Josh, I'm reading the thing-"

"Tell us what it says!"

_Dear Mr. Seaborn,_

_I cannot thank you enough for what you've done for Cerulean. For Zachary and Jason as well, I suppose, but mostly for Cerulean. I know you have been a loving parent, and you have given her an extended family that cherishes her too. She deserves that and I wish I could have given it to her._

_I don't know what you know about me. I am probably just the long-lost mother of three abandoned children, a runaway who left her children to a pair of monsters. I could attempt to defend my actions, but it doesn't matter to you why I did it; you have a wonderful daughter because of my actions and that's all you really need to know. What matters is that you love Cerulean and so do I, and we both know she is better off with you and yours._

_I have enclosed in the wrapped box a gift. These are photo albums that I and the nanny Thomas hired made of the children. These are mostly Cerulean, which I thought you might appreciate. In Cerulean's gift are some things she's missed from the house. I wrote her a letter as well. I imagine you'll read that to make sure I haven't written anything awful in it. All I wrote was an explanation of my actions and how they in no way reflect upon my love for her. Maybe she's not quite old enough to understand it yet, but one day she'll have questions and that letter should provide some answers. Perhaps Cerulean will be able to forgive me one day._

_Merry Christmas and Thank You, _

_Anna Graham Barber _

"This is ridiculous," Josh says. He sits next to Sam, the Senior Staff gathered in a parlor in the Residence. Charlie came to tell them that they were not allowed to work any longer or the President would come down and lecture them on the history of the Christmas tree. They were met by Leo, who had just left the Oval with the same threat. When they arrived at the parlor, Sam read the letter to them. C.J. balls her fist on the arm of the couch she sits on. Beside her, Toby glares at the carpet. Leo's mouth has fallen open in surprise.

"It is ridiculous," Sam says. "She shows up now, after five- after six years of not seeing any of them and acts like a letter is going to solve everything. Jason's dead, for God's sake! It's a little too late!"

"She's not asking to be back in Cerulean's life," C.J. says. "She just wants to give her a letter."

"And a gift, which we still don't know what that is," Toby says.

"I'm not ripping open Cerulean's present if the Secret Service says it was safe," Sam replies. "And that's the not point-"

"You're still giving it to her?" Leo says.

"I'm more afraid of what happens if I don't," Sam says. "If Anna Barber can break into the White House once, I don't see what's gonna stop her from trying again."

"The Secret Service are pretty pissed. She came in, got past them, got a package past them and got back out. They're gonna arrest her if she tries again," Leo says.

"Yeah, but I think we should give her the gift anyway," C.J. says. "It's from her mother."

"Her insane mother who abandoned her when she was a year old," Josh says. "And then broke into two secure buildings to give her gifts without bothering to see her."

"Still, she said Cerulean missed it and I think we should give it to her," C.J. says.

"I'm going to. Anna gave me those photo albums, which I appreciate very much and I am going to pass along her gift to Cerulean," Sam says. "I just don't want to give her the letter. Not now."

"You don't have to," Toby says. "Hang onto it. Put it in a drawer."

"After he reads it, right?" Josh says.

"If he wants to."

"I don't want to," Sam says.

"Sam!" Josh exclaims.

"I don't want to! It's not for me, it's for Cerulean. I don't want to invade her privacy," Sam says.

"You're her father, that gives you every right to invade her privacy," Leo says. "This woman is psychotic."

"No one said she was psychotic. We just all think she's a piece of shit for abandoning her kids," C.J. says. Leo shrugs.

"Okay, maybe so. I still think you should read the letter."

"Read the letter or don't. I'd rather you open the gift," Toby says. "Make sure there aren't decapitated dolls or something."

"Why would she send Cerulean decapitated dolls?" Josh asks.

"I don't know. But she might have."

"I doubt it," Sam says. "Do you really think I should open the box?"

"There's not going to be decapitated dolls or anything like that. There's no evidence to suggest that Anna Barber is doing anything other than giving Cerulean a gift," C.J. says. "You'll see what it is in the morning."

"Right."


	5. Chapter 5

Hannah is woken Christmas morning by the phone ringing. She growls into her pillow before reaching for the phone on her nightstand.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Seaborn, it's Jed Bartlet again. Merry Christmas." The President is ridiculously cheery for the early hour- the sun isn't even up yet. Hannah wipes sleep and grit from her eyes.

"Merry Christmas, sir. Are the roads clears?"

"Yes, they are. I'm calling to see if you have everything prepared for this morning's event," the President says. Hannah sits up.

"Everything but myself, sir, and that'll take just a little while," she says.

"Excellent. I'll have a car sent over to pick you up. Guy driving it is named- Charlie, what's the tall guy's name?" the President says. "Name of Jim McHugh. He'll help you get everything over here. I'll see you soon."

"I'll see you soon, Mr. President." Hannah hangs up and puts the phone down. She shoves her face back into the pillow, sighing. Then she pulls her head back up.

"It's for Cerulean and Sam," she tells herself. "It's for Sam and Cerulean."

Josh wakes to the sound of a door opening. He's mildly confused when he doesn't recognize the room or the bed he's sleeping in, but then he remembers the blizzard last night. He sits up, borrowed pajamas feeling strange on his skin.

"Uncle Josh?" Josh blinks a few times and turns to the door. Cerulean, clad in an old Notre Dame shirt that drags on the floor, peers in. She looks more confused than Josh felt a second ago.

"Hey…kiddo…" he says. This whole waking-up thing is not good for brain function. "Do you know what time it is?" Cerulean rubs her face, brow furrowing.

"I don't _know_. I was looking for Daddy. He's sposed to be here." Cerulean rubs her forehead as if trying to erase something off it.

"He's in the next room over. Hang on, I'll go with you." Josh stands and comes over to the door. He takes Cerulean's hand away from her face. She latches onto his hand like she's afraid to lose him. Josh supposes waking up in a weird place is scarier for her than it is for him.

"Which room's Daddy in? I thought it was this one," Cerulean says as they go back into the hall.

"Right next door. The one right across from you," Josh says.

"No, this one is right across from me. I was in that room." Cerulean points with her other hand to the door opposite Josh's door.

"Huh." Josh takes a moment to look at the doors on either side of the hall. "You know, all these doors look exactly alike."

"Are you _sure_ you know where Daddy is?" Cerulean asks.

"Yes. You, Little Miss Doubtfire, have been spending too much time with your Aunt Donna," Josh says, going to the door to the left of the one they've just come out of.

"Who's Miss Doubtfire?" Cerulean says.

"Um. I don't know. I didn't watch that movie. But it has doubt in the name, which is what you are doing right now. You are doubting me and you shouldn't." Josh knocks on the door. He hears a grunt that could possibly be Sam's or possibly be Toby's. Maybe he did get the room wrong. Josh looks down at Cerulean, who is watching him. 'I got the door right,' Josh tells himself.

The door opens to prove Josh right. Sam is behind it, blinking groggily. Like Josh, he is wearing pajamas that were given to them by the White House staff, which are blue and covered with the seal of the President.

"Hi," he says.

"Hi. Your kid wants you," Josh says. Sam blinks again before looking down at Cerulean.

"Hey, Cerulean. You sleep okay?" She lets go of Josh to grab onto Sam's leg.

"Yeah. I went to the wrong door," Cerulean says. Sam nods.

"Ah. That would explain Josh."

"You say that like I need explanation," Josh says. Sam and Cerulean roll their eyes in nearly simultaneous motion. It's one of the coolest things Josh has seen in a while.

The door across from Sam's opens. Toby scowls at them from it.

"It is five-thirty a.m. Why are you all up and making noise?" he says.

"Cerulean couldn't find Sam," Josh says.

"Not my fault he was in the wrong room," Cerulean adds. "He was sposed to be across from me."

"Yeah, how did I end up across from Toby?" Sam asks, looking at the doors in the hall.

"These doors all look exactly alike. We must have gotten confused last night and taken the wrong rooms," Josh says. "There should be numbers on them or something." The door on the other side of Toby's opens and C.J. steps out. Unlike the rest of them, she is fully dressed and looks actually awake.

"Merry Christmas, boys and girl," she says.

"Why on earth are you up and functioning?" Toby says. C.J. shrugs.

"I heard doors opening and rightly assumed Cerulean was up, so I decided to be ready for whatever Christmas magic is," she says. "I see no one else thought of that."

"Christmas magic?" Cerulean repeats.

"Do _not_ get her started," Josh says.

"But I want to be ready for Christmas magic too!" Cerulean says.

"Come on over here, kiddo, I'll give you fancy braids. Then you'll be ready," C.J. says. She holds her hand out and Cerulean gleefully abandons Sam to run over.

"I suppose we should all get dressed then," Sam says.

"I want to go back to bed," Toby growls.

"How much do you wanna bet the President will have you dragged out to his Christmas thing?" C.J. says. Toby scowls.

"I'll get dressed."

Leo's not big on holidays. Sure, he liked watching Mallory celebrate when she was little, and Jed is good entertainment this time of year, but Christmas cheer is not really Leo's thing.

He is, however, not above making a little girl's morning on Christmas day.

Leo meets the car at the Portico. The woman who gets out is Sam's mother, despite the impeccably styled blonde hair. Leo approaches the car as she stands and takes her bag out of the car. He extends a hand to her from the top step.

"Mrs. Seaborn, I'm Leo McGarry. I hope the President hasn't driven you too crazy this morning," Leo says. She smiles and Leo is struck by the resemblance to Sam. You wouldn't mark them as related by features alone, but the smile does it.

"It's good to meet you, Mr. McGarry," she says. "It's never too much trouble for Cerulean." She joins him on the top step.

"I know the feeling. Did you bring everything you wanted to?" Leo asks. Mrs. Seaborn nods.

"I brought everything the Senior Staff and their assistants gave her. I don't have anything from the President-"

"He's still got those. He and the First Lady were going to give those to her last night until he got this idea. Excuse me for a second, ma'am." Leo turns to the door. "Fellas!" The door opens and the porters come out. They swarm the car and begin taking out presents.

"That's impressive," Mrs. Seaborn says.

"Yeah, one of the perks of this gig," Leo says. "Let's go meet the President." He leads her to the door.

"Is it odd that I'm still nervous about this after talking to him on the phone?" Mrs. Seaborn asks as they enter the building. Leo smiles.

"Nah. It's daunting the first time, what with the Secret Service and the White House and all the trappings, but he's really a very friendly man," Leo says. "And a tad overexcited at times."

"I gathered that from our conversations," Mrs. Seaborn says, voice dry. Leo chuckles.

"He has no sense of time. I apologize for that," he says. "Did he really call you at five a.m.?"

"Yes, but I probably would have been up at this hour anyway. It is Christmas morning," Mrs. Seaborn says. "I have to say, Mr. McGarry-"

"Leo, please."

"Leo, then. I'm a little surprised you came to get me instead of Sam," Mrs. Seaborn says.

"Sam doesn't know you're here. This is as much of a surprise for him as it is for Cerulean," Leo says. "We didn't tell any of the Staff either, coz last time someone told him about the card."

"I heard that was you," Mrs. Seaborn replies. Leo nods.

"Yeah, I got caught. But this time we are not spoiling it," he says. Mrs. Seaborn smiles.

"I see." They come to the parlor, where Jed and Abbey are setting up their gifts under a large, luminously blue tree.

"Sir, ma'am," Leo says. They look up. "This is Hannah Seaborn." He gestures to Mrs. Seaborn. Jed stands and reaches for her hand.

"Mrs. Seaborn, I'm Jed Bartlet. It's nice to meet you," he says. They shake hands.

"And you, sir," Mrs. Seaborn says. "Thank you for setting this up."

"Oh, no, no. It's my absolute pleasure," Jed says. The First Lady comes over. "This is my wife, Abbey."

"So nice to meet you," Abbey says, shaking hands with Mrs. Seaborn.

"A pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

"How was the drive?" Abbey asks.

"Fine. Fine. Your driver was very polite, we had a nice conversation," Mrs. Seaborn says.

"Yeah, that's Jeff," Jed says.

"Jim. His name's Jim, dear," Abbey says.

"Whatever his name is, he's a good man," Jed replies. "Now I've sent Charlie to get everybody over here. The porters are-" The doors open and the porters enter with large gift bags. "They're here! Excellent. Now if I could just convince Abbey to-"

"I am _not_ dressing as Mrs. Claus," Abbey interrupts. "And I had that awful beard of yours thrown out." Jed throws his hands in the air.

"Now how am I supposed to be Santa without a beard?" he says.

"I think the hat will suffice, sir," Leo says.

"Maybe. You know, I've got an elf hat you can wear somewhere-"

"No!" Leo exclaims. Mrs. Seaborn and Abbey laugh as the President smiles.

"Leo-"

"I'm not putting an elf hat on, Mr. President, and that's that," Leo says. Jed shakes his head.

"I'll just have to get Charlie to wear it when he comes back."

Sam and Josh head over to C.J.'s room when they are dressed. Cerulean and C.J. are sitting on the bed while C.J. finishes tying the end of a braid. Sam envies the neat braids C.J.'s made on each side of Cerulean's head. His efforts are not nearly as nice-looking. C.J. told him he would get better in time, but Cerulean's not impressed by his braids.

"So any idea what's going on with Christmas magic yet?" C.J. asks.

"Why are you still going on about that?" Josh says.

"I'm still worried about that. The President's got something planned for this morning."

"With magic? Is the President magic?" Cerulean says.

"I doubt it," Josh mutters. Sam elbows him. "I mean, the President was using magic as a metaphor. There's probably no literal magic involved."

"Uncle Toby only uses probably when he can't be sure," Cerulean says. "Are you not sure there's not literal magic?"

"I'm pretty sure," Josh says.

"But not a hundred percent?"

"Like 99.9% sure."

"That's not a hundred," Cerulean says. C.J. smirks as Josh turns to Sam, who shrugs.

"She knows her math."

"Does she argue like this with you? Ever?" Josh asks.

"Only when she's really annoyed. Otherwise, she saves it for you. Right, Cerulean?" Sam says.

"Right. It's more fun to do it to Uncle Josh," Cerulean answers. There's a glimmer of mischief in her eyes that Sam hasn't seen since the car crash. That is the best Christmas gift he could have asked for.

"Hey, guys." Charlie appears in the doorway. "The President sent me to make sure everyone's awake and ready."

"For Christmas magic?" C.J. says. Charlie nods.

"I'm supposed to bring you all to the parlor. Where's Toby?"

"Next door. He'll be out shortly," C.J. says.

"I thought we were doing a breakfast thing," Josh says. Charlie shrugs.

"When he gets into the spirit of Christmas, I try not to ask too many questions. Otherwise I end up standing there for an hour hearing about the history of the Christmas tree," he says. C.J., Josh, and Sam nod. "But we'd better get going before the President gets impatient. He's threatening to put elf hats on people."

"Well, we can't have that," C.J. says. "Scoot, sweetie." She pats the bed and Cerulean slides off the bed. She goes to Sam, neat braids swinging like they did the day he met her. He puts his hand out to her. She can hold more fingers now than she could then. Has it really been so long? Has she grown that much?

They head out into the hall. Toby has just come out into the hall, fixing his tie.

"Can we get this over with?" he grumbles.

"It's Christmas magic, Uncle Toby. It'll be fun!" Cerulean says. Toby scowls.

"I hate fun. I've told you this."

"Yeah, but you don't mean it."

"Do I say things I don't mean?" Toby says.

"When you think it's gonna make me laugh," Cerulean replies. Toby looks up at Sam.

"She's getting too smart for us," he says. Sam nods.

"We're gonna have to up our game."

"Guys, we gotta get moving. I couldn't get Zoey to come with us, so we can't make him wait too long," Charlie says.

"Lead the way, Chuckles," C.J. says. They all follow Charlie down the hallway.

"Why couldn't you get Zoey?" Sam asks.

"She reserved her right as an adult to not get up before seven a.m. when she doesn't have to," Charlie replies. "Then she threw a pillow at me."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Toby says. As they turn a corner and make their way down a new hall, the faint sounds of Christmas music grow louder. The Senior Staff exchange looks. Cerulean starts humming.

"I'm starting to get concerned," Josh says softly.

"Now you realize I'm right," C.J. replies.

"I didn't say that. I said I'm concerned."

"So am I."

"Do you think there'll be a pretty tree, Daddy?" Cerulean asks.

"I don't know." Charlie reaches the door first. He opens it and the Christmas music is readily audible now, as is the President's enthusiastic voice.

"-simply hav-ing a wonderful Christmas time!"

"After you, Cerulean," Charlie says, gesturing to the room. Cerulean looks up at Sam, who nods. She lets go of his hand to walk ahead. Sam and the others are a step behind her.

In the room, the President, Leo, the First Lady, and Hannah are waiting beside a tree decked out entirely in blue lights and blue ornaments, with a pile of presents underneath. The President is wearing a Santa hat with a matching sweater.

"Merry Christmas!" he exclaims, delight etched in every corner of his face. Sam cannot help the smile that spreads over his face. C.J. lets out a shocked laugh. Cerulean has stopped in her tracks, trying to take it all in.

"Whoa," she says.

"I think you broke her," Leo says.

"What do you think, Cerulean?" Abbey says, ignoring Leo. "Do you like it?"

"The tree is all blue. Like me!" Cerulean exclaims.

"Yes, we know how much you like the lights, so we made them blue to match your name," Abbey says. "Only the best for you."

"But how did Nana get here? I thought the roads were closed," Cerulean says.

"Well, darling, we can say it's Christmas magic," Hannah says.

"I told you so," C.J. mutters to Josh.

"Yeah, yeah. You win," he murmurs back.

"Cerulean, most of us are here, so do you want to open some presents before we go for breakfast?" the President asks. "Gives Zoey some time to join the land of the waking people."

"Okay. Which ones are mine?"

"The ones under the tree are for you. We've got some presents for the Staff on the couch, though I imagine they're not as excited are you-"

"But those can't all be for me!" Cerulean interrupts.

"Of course they are," Abbey says. "We got them for you."

"And Santa helped," Jed adds. Cerulean looks up at Sam, who nods.

"Go for it."

"There's a nice blue one in the front here, darling, you can start with this one," Hannah says, getting down by the presents. Cerulean goes over beside her, picking up the light blue box from last night. Sam winces.

"Who gave her that one?" Leo asks as Hannah helps Cerulean tear the paper.

"Anna Barber," Toby answers quietly.

"How the hell did that get here?" Jed mutters.

"I saw it when I kicked them out of the West Wing last night and I brought it in," Charlie says. "Was I not supposed to do that?"

"Well-"

"It's the angels!" Cerulean announces. She turns to Sam, face beaming. "It's the angel ornaments! But how did they get out of the old house?" All eyes are on Sam. He shrugs.

"Let's call it Christmas magic." Cerulean squeals and begins taking out the ornaments.

"This one looks like you, Nana, and this one looks like Aunt C.J., see, it's got the reddish hair…"


End file.
